ONE NIGHT IN SAN DIEGO
by Rebel8954
Summary: "Thanks for the pep talk," Seth grumbled. "You want a pep talk, go talk to Bayley," Kane grunted. Aftermath of RAW 12/10/2018


Seth Rollins stood by the window of his hotel room looking out at the city of San Diego. His flight wasn't until the afternoon so he had a chance to sleep in, relax, and eat a leisurely breakfast. What he'd actually done was restlessly toss and turn throughout the night and barely touch his breakfast. What he was doing now was waiting until it was late enough that he could decently make a phone call and be sure the other person was awake.

He sat on the end of the bed and looked at the object in his hand. The Shield dogtags that he, Roman and Dean had worn. He knew Roman had his set, and his was lying on his dresser in his home. The set in his hands belonged to Dean.

Dean had tossed them aside just before their final match together. The referee had brought them to Seth after the match and almost apologetically handed them to him with the explanation he'd found them lying next to ring. Seth had silently nodded and accepted them. Now he carried them as sort of a talisman although he wasn't sure what it represented.

Sighing, he put the dogtags on the bed and reached for his phone. He put the phone on speaker and curled up on his side, the phone lying next to him.

"Good morning, Seth."

Seth smiled. "You could at least sound surprised that I called," he mockingly snorted.

"But I'm not surprised. I figured you'd call sooner or later."

Seth pinched the bridge of his nose. "How did you do it, Kane? How did you go to war against your brother and not…feel anything?" He heard the other man settling back into what sounded like a leather chair.

"Why do you assume I felt nothing?" Kane sounded a bit surprised. "I felt anger…hatred…but that's not what you mean, is it?"

"No, it's not…well…" Seth sighed. "I'm angry with Ambrose. That's a no-brainer."

"But it's the wrong type of anger," Kane interrupted. "You're feeling the anger of someone who's emotionally hurting. And you're feeling remorse that you haven't fixed whatever's gone wrong." Kane smiled to himself. He could imagine the expression on Seth's face. It was the one that usually crossed Seth's face during his time in the Authority when he was called down. Kane had privately called it the 'brat' expression…part indignation and part pout.

"You're feeling the type of anger that Ambrose felt when you betrayed him and the Shield," Kane continued. "That anger comes from a sense of betrayal and disillusionment. Those past feelings of friendship, brotherhood, comradery and even love and past shared experiences fuel that anger because you feel they've been tossed aside just like a bag of garbage."

"That's what I don't understand!" Seth exclaimed. "Why did he do it? We'd just won the tag titles! What did I do?"

Kane was silent for a moment. "What makes you think it was something you did?"

"I must've said something…or done something," Seth protested. "To be honest, I don't remember much after winning the titles. That last Dirty Deeds on the concrete sorta blanked out some stuff."

Kane sighed. "Ambrose is the only one who knows for sure. But I'm telling you from what I saw, you didn't do or say anything. He executed a perfect blindside."

Seth's mouth went dry, and he slowly sat up. "You're saying he planned this all along?"

"Do I think he got to the arena that night knowing he was going to stab you? No. But I think Roman's…departure gave him the opportunity on a silver platter," Kane answered. "He knew Roman was gone and wouldn't be interfering either that night or in the foreseeable future. He knew emotions were running high, and he had your full trust because he was the only brother left standing by your side. He knew you'd never see it coming."

"He played me," Seth muttered. "After Roman left…preparing for our match...he played me."

"He's been playing you ever since," Kane pointed out. "Everything he's done…everything he's said has been to hit at some vulnerable point. Throwing away the t-shirt with the Shield logo…what you called 'mocking the Shield'…burning his Shield vest. This nonsense about vermin and catching diseases is just a smokescreen to cover that he's hitting you where it hurts the most."

Seth took a deep breath and rubbed his hands over his face. "You're right," he slowly admitted. "And I've let him."

"And you need to stop that," Kane advised. "Use the time between now and TLC to get out of that mindset you're in. Ambrose is going to be thinking he can play those games at TLC while he's handing out punishment. And Ambrose is better than you at taking punishment,"

"I can take punishment," Seth protested.

Kane nearly laughed out loud, hearing the brat in Seth's voice. "Of course, you can. You couldn't make it in this business if you couldn't. But let's be honest, Seth. We both know that Ambrose can take more punishment that you can. You put his head through cinderblocks, and he came back."

"Thanks for the pep talk," Seth grumbled.

"You want a pep talk, go talk to Bayley," Kane grunted.

Seth sighed. "Considering that everything's legal at TLC, I guess I shouldn't be surprised if he pulls some cinderblocks out from underneath the ring."

"I wouldn't be surprised." Kane heard Seth catch his breath as that possibility suddenly sank in. "Say what you want about the Shield…and a lot **was** said about the Shield, but you guys never went after the women. You never confronted them or tried to intimidate them. But did you see his interview with Charlie last night? She was scared of him. He did that to her deliberately. This is a different Dean Ambrose than we've seen before. The old Dean Ambrose wore the title of 'Lunatic Fringe' like a badge of honor. Not this one. I don't know who this Dean Ambrose is, but I'd certainly bet there's nothing **this** Dean Ambrose won't do."

' _That's because it's Jon Moxley. And Moxley will do anything.'_ Seth took a deep breath. "I know."

"Then know this." Kane's voice became deadly serious. "If you want to keep that InterContinental Title, then you need to be a different Seth Rollins. Stop wallowing in some imagined guilt and become a different Seth Rollins than he expects to see. You need to be the Seth Rollins of the Authority."

"I hate that guy," Seth muttered.

"That guy beat Ambrose more often than not," Kane pointed out.

"Kane, I won a lot of times because of outside interference," Seth pointed out. "That's not going to happen this time."

"You planned your matches using all the resources available to you," Kane shot back. "You had no problem using anything and anyone. You may not have anyone to run interference, but as you said…everything's legal in a TLC match. So, use whatever you need to use and win by **any means necessary**." He paused. "Or just give Ambrose that title and save yourself a lot of pain because that's exactly what he's going to do to you."

"I'm not **giving** anybody this title," Seth angrily growled.

"Then get it into your head that **this** Ambrose isn't your brother," Kane ordered. "This isn't a match between brothers who will shake hands and exchange a hug afterwards no matter who wins or who loses. This is a TLC match with someone who wants to not only take your title but hurt you as well. Any…feelings you have for the old Dean Ambrose need to be locked away because **this** Ambrose will play on your heartstrings." Kane's voice became sarcastic. "At one point, you'll have him down…he'll raise his hands and say _'please Seth no…don't'_. He might even say you're his brother and he loves you. What will you do then?"

Silence.

"Curbstomp him," Seth grimly answered. "Because he's just saying a load of crap."

"Keep that in mind," Kane advised. "And call me after the match."

"I'll be okay," Seth said.

"No, you won't be 'okay'," Kane scoffed. "Speaking from experience, you'll need to talk with someone or just **be** with someone. I never had that, and it would have been better if there had been someone to…talk with."

"Thanks, Kane. I know this wasn't what you thought about when you said I could call you…"

Kane's chuckle interrupted him. "Kid, you never did know what I was thinking." He hung up before Seth could reply.

Shaking his head, Seth walked into the bathroom and threw some cold water on his face. _'It wasn't me. I didn't push him or do anything that caused him to attack me. Dean is my brother. Not Moxley. But…they're the same person. Aren't they?'_

He stared into the mirror and saw a smirking face looking back at him.


End file.
